Not Alone
by DiscordantSymphony
Summary: Life can be hard, it can be cruel and unfair and sometimes it can be so terrible we wonder why we bother. But it can be beautiful as well, wonderful and happy and full of joy. And sometimes, one can lead to the other. But either way, you don't have to do it alone.
1. Prologue

Not Alone

Prologue

Ned awoke with a gasp as he felt the hand shaking him free of his dreams, he glanced next to him to see Cat's frantic face staring down at him. Her deep blue eyes filled with a terror the likes of which he had never seen before. Her face was even paler than normal and she looked like she was about faint. "Ned." When she spoke, her voice wobbled and she sounded like she was about to break down crying. "I think it's time."

Ned shot up in bed and leapt from it and ran over to the light switch on the wall, flipping it on and spun around to look back at his wife, he had never seen her so pale before and for a moment he was terrified that something was wrong, truly and deeply wrong. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on calming down, they had been waiting for this. They had been prepared for this, everything was on time. It was all going to be fine.

He was quick, they had a bag packed for just this occasion underneath the bed and as he fished it out, Cat sat up and threw her legs over the edge and began to rock herself back and forth and she kept a hand on her swollen belly, rubbing soothing circles into it as she focused on her breathing. She held out her hand for Ned to take and he took it readily.

"It's going to be alright my love, everything's going to be fine." He pressed a kiss to the back of Catelyn's hand while his free hand came to rub at her back. Catelyn breathed and nodded and Ned helped her up to her feet, they began to make their way through the house and down the stairs, he grabbed Cat's coat from the pegs and helped her put it on.

The walk from the doorstep to the car was the longest in Ned's life, for a moment he thought about calling an ambulance. But there wasn't any need, it wasn't an emergency as his dear mother would like to put it. This was the most normal time in the world and when it came to all of her children, her husband would drive her to the hospital and that would be all there was to it.

Once Cat was safely inside of the car Ned ran around to the other side, jumped in and drove out on to the rode. It was oddly normal, they spoke about the weather, names if it was a boy or a girl, they had wanted to keep it a surprised, friends and parties and what looked good on the TV over the weekend. Aside from Cat letting out a little twinge every now and then, it was almost perfectly normal.

The roads were clear as they could only be at almost three in the morning, he found a spot in the parking lot and helped Catelyn out and into the hospital. Everything after that was something of a blur, two midwives came and took his wife in hand and then lead him to a place that he could sit. He had wanted to be in there with her, but it was a sterility issue or something like that. Things were moving fast.

What followed was the longest night of his life, seconds passed like they were hours and every now and then a nurse would rush in or out of the room and no one told him anything. Around four in the morning a nurse brought him a cup of tea and a biscuit, the tea was strong and too sweet for his tastebuds and the biscuit was too rich, but he appreciated something in his stomach.

He thought about calling the rest of the family but...Well, Brandon wouldn't pick up and probably wasn't in any fit state to do so, his Mother and Father needed their sleep and he could tell in the morning that they had become grandparents, Benjen was oversees and Lya...Ned had no idea where Lya even was right now, and for all that he loved his sister he wasn't even sure he even wanted to talk to her.

It must have been almost eight in the morning when the door finally opened and the doctor came out, his gloved hands were drenched in blood but that didn't worry him even half as much as the look of pity in his eyes. "I am so very sorry Mr Stark, you have a son and the lad is healthy enough but...I am afraid that your wife is bleeding too heavily, and we can not stop it. She's asking for you."

The whole world seemed to fall into a haze, he didn't remember standing up or walking into the room but he must have done because he was soon at her bedside. Cat had never seemed so small or so pale in her life, her eyes were lidded and she could not open them any wider. She still saw him however and she smiled, her hand held out for him and Ned took it. "Well, this is a bit of a come down isn't it?"

"You're going to be fine."

"We both know that I am not." She almost sounded more insulted that Ned had lied to her than her life was leaking out of her, turning her sheets red. Catelyn closed her eyes and didn't open them again and for a moment Ned thought that she was gone but she soon spoke once again. "Ned, I need you to listen to me. You're going to be on your own now, but we have a son. I need you to not be angry with him, I need you to...to love him. I need you to tell him that I love him, I love him more than anything in the world."

"Of course I will." Tears were running down his face then, he tried to close his eyes and be strong but that didn't stop the tears. It only made his eyes saw. He leaned forward and kissed her, she was as cold as ice. "I love you Cat."

She didn't answer and the room was as silent as the grave. He wasn't sure what happened after that, all he knew was that Cat was taken away and he had to answer some questions. He thought that he did anyway, it seemed like a storm had blown into the room. He didn't sleep, he didn't even get up from the chair that he had been sat in.

The sun was too bright and a nurse asked him if he wanted to see his son, Ned said nothing but nodded in agreement, following her to the room where lines and lines of plastic cots held new born babies. Ned followed the nurse inside to one specific cot, where a tiny little thing with red hair was slumbering like there was nothing wrong with the world at all.

The nurse said he would give him a few moments and then left the room, Ned reached down and cupped the little one's head. "Hello lad, I'm your dad." He wanted to be happy, more than anything in the world he wanted to be happy right now but all the grief in the world was crushing it down. "We're alone now, you and me. But I promise I will do the best that I can for you. But I've never been a dad before and there was meant to be someone with me, to help, but I'll do the best that I can. Okay?"

As soon as he had finished speaking, the baby's eyes opened and they were the deepest blue that Ned had ever seen in his life and he already knew that they would not be changing colour as he grew. He was Cat's son, he was his son. Ned bent his head and pressed a kiss to the soft skin. "Hello Robb, I love you more than anything in this world."

* * *

The day had come so very fast, and she had been dreading it more than anything. But she knew that there was nothing she could do to avoid it now. It had to be faced and once it was over and done with, she could move on with her life. Still, all Elia Martell could do was stare up at the celling for a few long moments before with a heavy sigh, she pushed her covers off of and began to get out of bed.

She grabbed one of her plastic pill containers, handily divided up into days of the week, and took her daily amount and washed them down with a swing of water. Her bones ached and she was so tired that all she wanted to was get back into bed and sleep the rest of the day away but she knew that she couldn't. The pills would pick her up soon enough. She just had to endure, as she had to do everyday.

Elia pushed herself out of bed and made her way over to her wardrobe, picking out a blue shirt, some white pants and a floral print headscarf that Oberyn bought for her when he had come back home from Pakistan. Once she was dressed, she exited her bedroom. She probably should have had a shower but she honestly didn't care what anyone thought at the moment and she had a long one the night before anyway.

Popping her head into the nursery soothed her somewhat, Rhaenys was sleeping in her bed with her kitten slumbering on top of her, it's tail swinging back and forth in it's sleep like a pendulum. Baby Aegon was slumbering in his crib, his tiny little chest rising and falling with every single breath that he took. Elia gently shut the door, praying she wouldn't wake them up.

She made a cup of coffee and let out a sigh of relief when she spied Oberyn and Elliara pulling up, they walked in as they always did but Elia didn't mind. She had given them both a key long ago, but they could have broken in and she wouldn't mind. She probably would have done something stupid by now if it weren't for the two of them helping her.

Ellaria pressed a kiss to her cheek and helped her to stand up, she would look after the babies, make them breakfast and play with them till they got back. His brother's girlfriend gave her that smile, the one which she had come to hate. It stunk of pity and Elia hated nothing more than being pitied. Thankfully, Oberyn knew that and quickly lead her out.

The drive to the solicitor's office was far shorter than she would have liked, Elia made no move to get out of the car and of course her little brother managed to notice that. "You don't have to go in there you know, or if you want I could go in there with you and when I see that arrogant, crazy, evil, vile bastard I could smash his face into paste. You know, you do have options."

She could always rely on Oberyn, to keep her safe, to make her smile, to make her laugh. But no, this was something that she had to do alone. It hurt, of course it did. It hurt more than anything in the entire world hurt, but once it was done then it was done and she could start to move on with her life. What little of a life she actually stilled had.

Elia patted her brother on the shoulder, a silent show of appreciation, but shook her head. She gathered her strength and opened the door and climbed out and slowly made her way to the doors. The woman at the front desk told her where their appointment was, and of course it was on the third floor and of course it happened on the day that the elevators had broken.

She forced a smile and made herself thank the woman and then made her way to the stairwell, she was out of breath and lightheaded by the time she had made it to the third floor and had to sit down on the nearest chair. Once she had regained control of herself, she stood up and made her way to the office where her future would be decided.

The solicitor's personal assistant told her that her husband had already arrived and that they were waiting for her, this was going to be the worst part of the day but once it was done then it was done. Elia took a deep breath, steeled herself and walked into the office.

Rhaegar Targaryen was as beautiful as ever, completely poised. That hurt more than anything else, he was dressed simply but every single item of clothing from the black leather jacket to the blue jeans with the stylish and tasteful tears to the black sunglasses which were perched on to the top of his head probably cost more than most people spent to decorate their houses.

The solicitor was overweight, red faced and had a weasel look about him. Elia sat down in the chair next to her soon to be ex-husband and made herself as comfortable as she was likely to get today. "I would like to thank both of you for coming here today, obviously this is not a happy occasion whatsoever so we shall make this as painless as possible."

It was all just details really, things she had always known were going to happen. Elia had signed a prenup which stated that she would be given a cash settlement when they were divorced but nothing more, five hundred thousand pounds for each year they were married. It came to two point five million all together, but with her medical bills, even with the NHS, and other expenses the vast majority of it would be gone soon.

Everything else was Rhaegar's, the houses and the cars and the artwork. It all belonged to Rhaegar, she had argued that it was almost medieval but it had been part of the prenup and she had already signed it. She had been so sure that they would be together for ever, she had been so stupid and so naïve. She should have fought against it, Mother had told her to do so and she hadn't listened.

All that was left was the children, Elia would have full custody which she quickly sent a silent prayer in gratitude for, but Rhaegar would have full visitation rights and would be able to see their children whenever he wished too and there was nothing that Elia would be able to do to stop it. Just like most everything else in her life.

Then it came to the signing, Rhaegar didn't even look at the papers and scrawled his signature on it. Elia had glanced at Rhaegar and for a moment, just a moment she thought about storming out. What would he do if she didn't agree to it? If she picked up the papers, ripped them in half and stormed out before anything else could be done.

Oh, Rhaegar would get the divorce in the end, of course he would. The Targaryens always got what they wanted, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make it painful for him, couldn't make it humiliating for him. Taking the eldest son of one of the most prominent families in Britain to court, now that would be beyond satisfying.

The only problem was, she didn't have that much fight in her. And so with a sigh, Elia added her signature just below Rhaegar's. And then it was done, the solicitor picked up the papers and left the room, promising to get them filed right away. The promise more for Rhaegar's benefit than for hers, she was sure enough of that.

"Thank you for all of that, I know it couldn't have been easy." She wanted to pick up the stapler right there and then and use it to smash his face in. "You will be all right Elia, I promise. I'll pay child support and I will drop in as often as I can."

"How very gallant of you, thank you for doing something that any actual decent human being would do. Would you like a parade, a trophy? A medal engraved with the words "I did the absolute bare minimum of what was expected of me?" Would you like any of that?" Her scorn clearly made him uncomfortable, perhaps he would have liked her to meekly submit to this indignity but she wouldn't, she might not have the strength to fight but she certainly had the strength to hate.

But suddenly, all the hate and the rage was overcome by a wave of sadness, of fatigue. "We've been married for over five years, we have a daughter and a son." Thoughts of Aegon, but more so Rhaenys, caused her to sob. How was she going to explain any of this to them? "How could you do this to us Rhaegar, don't you care about us at all?"

His violet eyes, the eyes she had loved to look into every single day when she woke up and every single night when she fell asleep, did fill with sorrow for a moment. With pity. "Of course I care, you were my wife and they were my children but..." He closed his eyes and breathed deep before he spoke again. "I fell in love with somebody else."

"You fell in love with a girl that is shy of eighteen." Oh, and that had been even more fun to deal with. The scandal, the embarrassment, Brandon Stark coming by at four in the morning, drunk out of his mind, hammering on the door, screaming for her husband who wasn't even there to come out and fight him like a man before he pissed on her doorstep and stumbled off, leaving her with a toddler and a baby who were terrified.

Rhaegar sighed, opened his eyes and looked at her like she was a child who didn't understand why she shouldn't put her finger down the drain while the waste disposal was on. "You just don't understand Elia." He came forward and pressed a chaste peck to her cheek and Elia fought the urge not to slap him, and then just like that he was gone.

Her legs buckled and she fell back into her chair, and buried her face into her hands and Elia Martell began to sob. Completely lost and no idea on where to go on from here. If Rhaegar heard her crying, then he did not care.

End of Prologue.

* * *

 **This was a story I've want to been writing for awhile, many of you know I've been writing another story for Ned and Elia that has ballooned into something more massive than I ever had expected in my life to happen. This was another idea, a Ned and Elia story set in our almost modern worlds, around the late eighties, early nineties.**

 **As such, I hope everyone enjoyed this prologue and that it gives you an idea of what's to come. Each chapter will be split between Ned and Elia and they will be the only P. . There will be a time skip between this and the first chapter, roughly four years or so.**

 **If you did like what you've read so far, then please leave a review, a follow and a favourite.**

 **With much love and warmest regards,**

 **DiscordantSymphony**


	2. Chapter One

Not Alone

Chapter One

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! You gotta wake up, I am going to miss the first day of school!" Robb's voice finally brought Ned out of his sleep and he let out a loud yawn which he tried to stifle with the back of his hand, let out a mutter of what he was pretty sure was nonsense before his eyes closed again and he was back in the soothing darkness.

But only for a matter of moments as he felt Robb climb on top of the bed and began to jump up and down. "Daddy, really you gotta get up now! I am going to miss everything, get up! Get up! get up!"

Ned surged up and sized hold of Robb and tickled his sides till he was laughing out loud, his cheeks red and his body shaking. Once he was calmed down, Ned pressed a kiss to his forehead and cupped his cheeks. "Don't get too excited Lad, next day you will be begging me to let you stay home. You'll be hating school soon enough. we all do."

"No! I'm going to love school, and I'll be the best at it!" Robb cried excitedly and Ned didn't have the heart, or in fact the energy, to argue with him. He let out a yawn, picked up his son and placed him down on the floor and then got himself up and stood up from the bed and walked Robb into the bathroom and began to run him a bath.

Once Robb was cleaned and dressed, they both went downstairs and started on their breakfast. Well, Ned did. It was hardly gourmet but it would do, a bowl of frosted flakes went in front of his son while Ned made a cup of coffee for himself. He was concerned with the amount of sugar in his son's cereal but it was all that was in the house at the moment, he hadn't done a shop yet, and it kept him quiet and happy, the lad kicking his feet back and forth as he dove his spoon into the bowl, fishing out the sugary morsels.

Once the cereal was gone and all Robb had left was some sugary milk and he had drained the bowl dry and Ned had finished his coffee and placed his cup and Robb's bowl into the skin to soak for a couple of hours, he smiled at his son. "You ready to get going then?" Robb nodded excitedly and Ned smiled. "All right then Lad, get your shoes on and your coat."

His son nodded and jumped up and ran into the living room and Ned knew by the time he had found his shoes, then he would have left the living room looking like a bomb had hit it and would leave him to clean it up. He knew he should be firmer with the boy about keeping the shoes in a place where he would remember and to clean up his messes for himself.

But with Cat gone and the boy not having a mother and him being so young, it was hard for Ned to be strict with him but he knew that he had to start trying to be otherwise Robb would grow to be a spoiled brat and he wouldn't have that. But it was his first day of school as well so Ned was willing to let it slide at least for the moment.

Robb had soon found his shoes and put them on and he had left the living room as much of a disaster as he had expected him too. Ned reached down and took Robb's hand and lead him to the door and they both went outside together. It was a nice day, the sun hung high in the sky and bathed the street in a warm and golden light, the sky itself was blue with not a cloud at the sky.

Yes, it was a beautiful day but it made him feel sad as he cast his mind back to the day he had brought Robb home from the hospital, four days after Cat had died. The sun had been shinning then as well, there hadn't even been a wisp of cloud in the sky and there had been children laughing on the top of their bikes and the overly cheery tone of an ice cream van was ringing out around the street.

He remembered thinking about how unfair it was, what right did the world have to keep on turning, what right did anyone have to be happy, when Catelyn was gone? He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs at the injustice of it all but he didn't, partly because he had only just gotten Robb to go back to sleep after spending an hour with him in the hospital parking lot, rocking him back and forth in his car seat.

But eventually, after a while, he had gotten used to it. He had stopped being angry at the world for going on when Cat wasn't in it. There were still moments, hours, days when it still hurt to get up and face the day, the rest of his life, without her but those days were becoming rarer and rarer though he doubted that he would ever truly be free of them. And that was fine, he didn't ever want the pain to stop completely. If it ever did, then it would almost like he would be losing her all over again. And if he did that, then it would be like he had lost a bit of himself as well, a bit that he would never be able to get back.

He made sure that Robb was secure in his seat and drove out of the driveway, Robb was babbling a storm from the back of the car and Ned did his best to answer all of his questions without taking any attention of the road in front of him. If it was anything that he had learned over the last four years, it was that life could take unexpected turns no matter the precautions you took but even so that didn't mean that you should ask recklessly.

And he had the most precious person in the world in this car, he wasn't going to take even the slightest risk. Not after he had promised to Cat that he would keep him keep as safe as he could, to love him and to not be angry with him. And Ned Stark would rather die than break a promise.

The streets started to get clogged up as they got closer to the school, which made sense as it was the chaos of a first day and people were trying to find a place to park or were trying their best to stop their kids from running out into the road and getting themselves run over by one of the passing cars. The parking lot itself was chocked full of cars so Ned had to park them further down the street.

Ned kept a tight hold of Robb's hand as they walked, his son wasn't a stupid lad and he knew better than to go running out into the street but even so Ned wasn't about to take any risks. Within a few moments, they finally arrived at the school gate and a teacher along with a smaller group of other children was waiting for them.

The teacher was a pretty thing, younger than any of his teachers had been and she dropped to look Robb in the eyes and asked if he was excited and Robb, of course, answered all of her questions and proceeded to ask a thousand of his own while a bunch of other parents came to drop off their own kids, all with their own questions. Yeah, Robb wouldn't be having any trouble making friends with this lot.

Soon, the bell rang and the teacher said that it was time to go outside, the gathered parents said goodbye to their respective children. The teacher also reminded them that at the weekend there was a parent/teacher night and Ned dropped to one knee and pressed a kiss to Robb's forehead. Robb recoiled and whined as some of the other kids stared to giggle, Robb pouted and rubbed at his forehead as though trying to clean himself of some filth and Ned couldn't help but smile at the display.

He didn't move away from the fence until he had watched Robb go inside, he felt better about knowing that he was inside and safe and it wasn't as though he was the only one. "He is your first?" A woman at the side of him asked, plump with an open and friendly face with messy brown hair that spilled over her shoulders. Her eyes were kind and understanding.

"Yes."

"Ah, well I'd say it get's better the next time, but I'm afraid it doesn't. I'm on my seventh now, and my stomach still feels as though I've swallowed a whole bunch of live eels." Ned was fairly certain that the woman was laughing at the look on his face when she told him that she had somehow managed seven children. "I've always wanted a large family, what can I say? Marya Seaworth, my darling."

She held out her hand and Ned took it and gave it a gentle shake. "Ned Stark."

The woman's eyes widened, which didn't surprise him. The Starks had always been well known, they were one of the richest families in the country after all and only a very, very few were older than them. And a scandal was never something to go away. "I did think...Oh, I'm sorry my love. I don't mean to be rude it's just, my husband Davos is Stannis Baratheon's bodyguard and assistant, I hear a lot."

Ned tried to smile comfortingly, but his face was never made for smiles if Lyanna was ever to be believed. Not as if that had ever stopped her trying from trying to make one appear on his face. He was certain going by the look on Marya's face that it looked more like a snarl. "It's fine, I hope you won't think I am rude Mrs Seaworth, but I have to be off. Work."

"Oh, of course my Darling." Ned didn't stay any longer than he had too, making his way down to his car and getting away from the street and driving away as quickly as he could.

Yes, scandals clung like a stench to a corpse. And when Lya had run off with a married man, a married man who was Rhaegar Targaryen, it had effected all of them in different ways. The Stark name was never treated in quite the same way and he had no idea where Lya even was right now, probably sunbathing on some tropical beach and not thinking about any of them at all. It was insane.

He had finally arrived at work, though he almost didn't noticed as his thoughts had thrown him into auto pilot and he must have been sitting in the car park for a few minutes before he actually realised where he was. He threw open the car door and stepped out and made his way over to the building. The Stark name might have got dragged through the mud, but they were still Starks and he had a duty.

He had never wanted the company, it was always meant for Brandon. He had got all of the training, all of his Father's attention in order to turn him into the perfect heir, but after what Lya had done Brandon had completely gone mental and he had gotten himself arrested due to being drunk and disorderly and starting a fight and the board would not have anyone with a criminal record leading them.

It fell to Ned, he might not want it. But it was his to protect, to preserve for the next generation. As his dear Mother had put it. The elevator was slowly climbing up to the top floor and when it arrived, Ned stepped out and began to make his way to the board room. He stopped outside the double doors, took a deep breath in, and threw himself into the piranha pit.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

The sound of a shrill alarm and a pair of tiny hands pushing at her shoulder was what finally woke Elia up, her eyes cracked open and they met a pair of violet ones that were set in a light brown face framed by long silver hair that really was due for a haircut. "Mama, you need to wake up. We're late and I'm hungry. I want pancakes."

Elia narrowed her eyes at her son for a moment, the alarm had only just gone off? How could they be late? She glanced at the clock and then let out a loud groan. She had set it for the wrong time. Of course she had. Her eyes fell shut and for a moment she considered just letting Aegon have the day off and going back to sleep but she knew that she couldn't.

"Egg." Rhaenys spoke from the doorway, her dark eyes narrowing at her little brother with her hands on her hips. She sounded annoyed. It was becoming more and more common as of late. "I told you to let Mama sleep, you know she's not well. I said that I would get you ready and I would make you breakfast, not pancakes we don't have enough time. Now get in the shower!"

Aegon glanced between his sister and his mother and then pouted while letting out a sigh and left the room, pushing past his sister. Rhaenys glared as she watched him go, shaking her head. Elia pushed herself up and stared at her daughter. "Don't be so harsh on him love, he's only a baby. He doesn't really understand. He will, once he get's older."

"I understood when his age, I had too. You said I had to be strong for you, for both of you." There was a hint of bitterness in her daughter's tone that broke Elia's heart and all she wanted to do was get out of this bed, go to her daughter and pull her into a hug, tell her not to be worried, that she was going to get better and that she could go back to being a child. If only just for a little while longer.

But every inch of her body was being dragged under in weariness, it took her ten minutes just to get out of bed and make her way downstairs. She turned and picked up her diary and made sure that she remembered when her next appointment at the hospital was. As she was reading through the pages, Rhaenys spoke again. "Are you going to be able to drive us to school? It's okay if you can't, we can walk it but will be even later than we already are."

And with another knife shoved into her heart, Elia closed her diary and tried to give Rhaenys another smile. "No love, I'll be alright to drive you. Don't worry about it, I am not going to miss your brother's first day at school, am I?" Rhaenys didn't say anything, she simply nodded and turned on her feet and walked out of the bed room.

Elia sighed and placed her diary down on her bedside table and picked up her pill box, she had some brand new tablets today and with a bit of luck it might make her feel a tiny bit better than normal. She swallowed them with some water and once she had done that, she could make out the sounds of tiny feet running down the stairs and making their way into the kitchen.

Elia pushed herself up and threw her feet over the side of the bed and glanced again at the clock and a groan escaped her, school would've already started and by the time she had showered and gotten dressed and got out and got in the car and drove there, it would be almost an hour into the school day, and that was assuming there was very little traffic.

Well, she might as well get on with it. With every single one of her muscles screaming in protest, Elia pushed herself up from the bed and made her way into the bathroom. The warm water soothed the ache, not by much but by enough that it wasn't so completely unbearable as usual. Even so, she couldn't allow herself a long shower and so it was only a quick soak.

She got dressed quickly and made her way down the steps as quickly as she could and then headed into the kitchen, but as soon as she was in there she was overcome with a dizzy spell and she had to hold her head and rest her back against the door frame. A small hand took hold of hers and she looked down to see Rhaenys looking up at her with nothing but worry. "Mom, please sit down."

Elia gave her another smile, though this one was obviously a bit more shaky and she patted the top of her head gently before she looked up to see Aegon staring at her, his violet eyes wide and a spoon being held in front of his mouth, his hand shaking. "It's alright babies, don't worry. Mommy's fine, she's going to have a nice glass of water and then she's going to drop you both of at school and then Auntie Ellaria is going to come over and look after me while I have a nice, long nap. Mama's going to be just fine."

Her words had soothed Aegon who resumed digging into his cereal as though he had never seen anything wrong at all, if his Mother told him that she was going to be fine then what reason did he have to doubt her? Rhaenys was still frowning, she had been helping to look after her for a long time after all and she knew when Elia was lying to her in order to try and protect her from the truth.

But she also knew better than to argue with her when she wasn't felling well, or was felling more unwell than normal and so with a sigh her daughter turned and stormed over to the sink, grabbed a glass from the draining board and filled it up from the tap before walking back and handing it up to her mother with a sigh. "At least sit down while you drink it."

Elia both wanted to sit down and also didn't want to have an argument so this one time, she capitulated and sat down at the table and brought the glass up to her lips. She gulped down the water in three large gulps, ever mindful of the time that was slowly but surely ticking by, and then placed the now empty glass down on the table before she turned to look at Rhaenys, who seemed even more annoyed at how quickly she had drank the water. "There, do you see? I had all of my water and I am already feeling much better my darlings, now why don't you both finish up and have your breakfast and then we'll go and head off to school!"

She honestly thought that she might have overdone the cheer in her voice but Aegon was still happily munching away at his cereal and Rhaenys, while still frowning more darkly than a young girl ever should, at least didn't push it any further and then quickly made her way over to the cupboard and retrieved a bowl from within it and then filled it up with cereal got herself some milk from the fridge.

As soon as both of her children were done with their breakfast, she began to herd them both over to the door. To be fair to her daughter, it was more Aegon that she was trying to herd as the boy was always trying to break free from her and run over to one of his toys or to point something out or to stop and ask a question. Rhaenys, by comparison, was almost single minded as they made there way to the door.

Once her children were safely buckled in the car, Elia drove through the streets towards the school. The one good thing about being late was at least there wasn't that much traffic on the roads. All in all, it took them about ten minutes to get from the house to the school. They were late but they weren't as late as they could have been.

There was no one there to meet them so Elia had to head inside with them and talk to the receptionist behind the desk to find out where to go, both Aegon and Rhaenys were of course in different classes so it was going to tire her out but that was just another of life's little annoyances.

Aegon's class was closest to the lobby and waiting for them outside was a woman who Elia did not like the look of, her face was long and pointy and behind her wite frame glasses were eyes that were as hard as sleet and when they locked on to Elia, they seemed to shine with condemnation. "You're late, the class has already started without your son Miss Martell."

"I set my alarm for the wrong time, it won't happen again." The teacher said nothing to that, simply nodded and then held out her hand for Aegon to take. Her son started to shy away from her but Elia placed her hand on the back of his head and that soothed him enough for him to step forward and took the woman's hand and then just like that they were gone inside the classroom.

Rhaenys's class offered much less drama for her, the teacher greeted her with a pleasant smile and soothed Elia's own worries about their lateness. A quick kiss and a hug and a promise that she would remember to take her afternoon dose of pills as well as a promise that yes, Aunt Ellaria was definitely coming around to help look after her in the afternoon.

That seemed to satisfy her daughter who quickly went into the room, the teacher said her goodbyes but not before she handed Elia a notice for a parent/teacher night at the weekend. Elia promised to keep it in mind and then turned to make her way back to the car.

By the time she finally made it back home, she was more exhausted than words could say and she was more than a little dizzy. She made certain that all the doors were locked, Ellaria had a key and so did Oberyn, made sure anything that could possibly burn the house down was unplugged and then finally she crashed on to the couch and succumbed into a deep sleep, choosing to forget about everything for a time.

End of Chapter One

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 **Another chapter done and dusted and I hope that everyone enjoyed it, I know you're all probably looking forward to Ned and Elia finally meeting and I promise that we're getting to it but I need to set up the world and the players in it first. At any rate, eagled eyed readers might have seen the set up for the chapter where they will eventually meet.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, then please leave a review, a follow and a favourite. It always means a lot to me and constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

 **With much love and fondest regards,**

 **DiscordantSymphony**


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